When Madison Bumgarner went against the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard last Sunday it was a fun matchup featuring the established veteran against the promising phenom. However, on this date in 1965, Shea Stadium was the site of an underappreciated pitching duel between two future Hall of Famers, the Mets going with retread Warren Spahn against the Phillies’ Jim Bunning.

SPAHN: A Met for a moment. (TOPPS)

Bunning, who pitched a perfect game against the Mets the previous season at Shea, bested Spahn on a four-hitter, winning 1-0, in a game when both pitchers went the distance in a nifty 1:52. The only run scored that day off Spahn came on Bunning’s homer in the sixth.

Spahn pitched 21 years in the majors (20 with the Milwaukee Braves) and compiled a 363-245 record. Many forget he |was 4-12 for the Mets in 1965 before he was released July 17. He signed with the Giants two days later. Spahn won three games with the Giants and retired after that season.

It is conceivable Spahn might have won 400 games had he not spent three years (1943-45) serving in the military during World War II.

The most Spahn ever made during his career was $73,500 in 1965. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973. Spahn died in 2003 at 82 and is buried in Oklahoma.

Bunning was 18-11 with a 2.48 ERA in 36 games (34 starts) lifetime against the Mets, including 10-6 at Shea.

Bunning went 224-184 in nine seasons with Detroit, six with Philadelphia, two with Pittsburgh and one with the Dodgers. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee in 1996.

The first Met I remember as a kid was Ed Kranepool. Maybe it was the way Bob Murphy pronounced his name, I don’t know. Who really knows why things stick in your head when you’re ten years old?

KRANEPOOL: Hit final homer on this date.

My family spent our summer vacations at my grandmother’s house in Pelham, and I watched a lot of Met games. This was before the 1969 season, and they usually lost, often in agonizing fashion.

Kranepool always stood out although he wasn’t a great player. At the time, he was pretty much the best the Mets had to offer.

By 1979, I was following the Mets in the box scores and occasionally the Game of the Week. Growing up near Cleveland, the Indians were on once or twice a week, and I always thought how great it would be to live in New York when the games were on every day.

On this date that season, Kranepool hit the 118th, and final, home run of his career in a 3-2, 15-inning win over Pittsburgh.

Kranepool made his debut as a 17-year old in the Mets’ inaugural 1962 season as a defensive replacement for Gil Hodges, Sept. 22, and the next day started his first game and collected his first hit.

He began the next season splitting time at first base and right field, and was getting more time the following year. In 1965, he gave up his No. 21 to Warren Spahn and began wearing No. 7, and was the Mets’ lone representative in the All-Star Game.

Kranepool was demoted to Tidewater in 1970 and contemplated retirement, but had his best season the following year. He lost his starting job in 1973 to John Milner, and was a platoon player the next two years, and finished his career as a role player/pinch hitter, retiring at 34 in 1979.

After retirement, Kranepool was part of a group that attempted to buy the Mets, but lost out to the Nelson Doubleday-Fred Wilpon group. He worked as a stockbroker after retirement and was inducted into the Mets’ Hall of Fame in 1990.